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Short Studies in Kentuckiana 



By John Wilson Townsend 



LORE OF THE MEAUOWLAND. 



Hor^ of tije Heabflmkttli 



John Wilson Townsemd 

Author of 
"Richard Hickman Menefee" 

'KeNTUCKIANS in iilSTORY AND LITERATURE" 

"Life of Jamks Fran'Cis Leonard" 
"Kentucky: Mother of Governors," etc. 



pRKS.i OF 

J. L, RiCHAitutJON & Co. 

LKXINGTON. KY, 
1911 



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TO 

James Lane Allen 
affectionately 



A NOTE. 

Contrary to public impression, Kentucky does not 
mean "dark and bloody ground," but it is a word origin- 
ally used by the Iroquois Indians to signify the "hunting 
grounds;" or, a much better word, "meadowland." This 
in justification of my title. 

"Lore of the Meadowland" may be considered as sort 
of a sequel to my "Kentuckians in History and Literature," 
a book, I trust, that is not as bad as its name. At any rate, 
it found favor with quite a number of readers, and its com- 
panion is now sent forth with the hope (as all first-book 
authors have it) that it, too, may prove worth while, and 
finally find an humble place in the great world of books. 

J. W. T. 
Lexington, Ky., 

February 25, 1911. 



CONTENTS. 

Horace Holley, LL. D 11 

Joseph S. Cotter 23 

Reverend London Ferrill 28 



Two hundred and fifty copies of this pamphlet were 
printed in April, 1911, of which this is number y^"^ y'^ 

-7 1 



HORACE HOLLEY, LL. D. 

The Third President of 
Old Transylvania 



[Read upon the Celebration of the One Hundred and Thirtieth Anniversary of His 
Birth, in Morrison College, on February 14, 1911.] 

One hundred and thirty years ago yesterday, Horace 
Holley was born. In a most direct line he was descended 
from the famous Edmund Halley, the English astronomer, 
whose comet, like many another good thing, went wrong 
last year. The American founder of his family, John Hol- 
ley, was one of the big men of Seventeenth century Con- 
necticut ; and his father, Luther Holley, was a business 
man of ability, around whose memory lingers the excellent 
tradition that he, like Lord Macaulay, could repeat the 
whole of "Paradise Lost." Horace HoUey's mother was 
Sarah Dakin, one of the Dresden china type of women, 
reminding one of a delicate piece of porcelain. And these 
two, Luther and Sarah (Dakin) Holley, were not only the 
parents of him whom we remember to-day, but of their eld- 
est son, Myron Holley, the famous New England reformer, 
occupying a larger place in American history than does his 
younger brother. 

The little town of Salisbury, Connecticut, is the place, 
and February 13, 1781, is the date of Horace HoUey's 
birth. In school before he was four years old and finishing 
it when he was ten, Horace spent the next three or four 
years in study at home and in business with his father. His 
mind becoming more and more engrossed in intellectual 
pursuits, it was finally decided to give him a college educa- 



12 Lore of the Meadowland 

tion. So, in 1797, at the age of sixteen years, he entered 
the preparatory department of Williams College, Williams- 
town, Massachusetts. Here he spent'two years, at the end 
of which time he went to New Haven and matriculated as a 
Freshman at Yale. Yale was then flourishing under the 
auspices of its great President, Timothy Dwight, and the 
brilliant youngster and the old poet-president became boon 
companions, a friendship that was only terminated with 
Dwight' s death. Holley was an excellent student, besides 
being one of the best speakers in the college, and the 
social star of the town. In 1803, as the class orator, the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred upon him. 

The great religious revival that swept over New Haven 
in 1803, found many converts in the men of Yale; and 
among them, as you have anticipated, was Horace Holley. 
This awakening left its impress upon him, and, though he 
went to New York City soon after graduation to study law 
in the office of Riggs and Radcliff, he could not get away 
from his conversion, if we may so term it. For several 
months he devoted himself assiduously to the law, but it 
soon became so distasteful to him that he gave it up and 
returned to New Haven to study theology under President 
Dwight. Though bred a strict Calvinist, Holley soon 
became a Unitarian as exemplified in the teachings of Will- 
iam Ellery Channing and the other New England preachers 
of this faith. He pursued his studies with great enthusiasm 
and rapidly finished his course. 

On January 1, 1805, Horace Holley married Mary Aus- 
tin, of New Haven, who was to afterward become his best 
biographer, and the author of the well-known "History of 
Texas." From their union two children were born, the 
eldest of whom died some ten years ago. 

On September 13, of this same year of 1805, Holley 
was ordained at Greenfield Hill, Connecticut — the lovely 
little town that Dwight celebrated in his pastoral poem of 
that name, a poem that was read more a century ago than 
it is to-day — by the Western Consociation of Fairfield 
County, Connecticut; and the Society "voted to give Mr. 



Lore of the Meadowland 13 

Holley five hundred and sixty dollars per year for his ser- 
vices in the ministry, so long as said society and Mr. Hol- 
ley could agree." For three years they did agree, at the 
end of which time the pastor, looking for fairer financial 
fields, let his eyes behold Marblehead, Massachusetts, but, 
after a few weeks, he pronounced it not good, and decided 
to look further. Middletown, Connecticut, and Albany, 
New York, made him offers, which he declined, and 
descended upon Boston. There he preached in the Old 
South church to crowded congregations for a time. After 
several trial sermons, which were declared excellent, the 
great Hollis Street Unitarian church invited him to become 
its pastor, and this he did. 

Installed on March 8, 1809, Holley spent the next nine 
years of his life, the most pleasant years he was to spend in 
the world, as pastor of this church. There was a thorough 
and most cordial understanding and sympathy between min- 
ister and people, and we may well believe that he was 
happy. 

It was while at Hollis Street, that to all intents and pur- 
poses, Holley admitted to a company of clergymen his 
disbelief in the divinity of Christ to the extent "that the 
being," as he phrased it, "called Jesus Christ, who lived, 
and walked about, and ate, and drank, and died, on this 
earth, was verily the eternal God, the great First Cause of 
all things." And then to illustrate what a nice mind he 
had, he said in a sermon, "What is Christian faith? The 
intelligent and honest acknowledgment that Jesus is the 
Christ. What is the term of Christian communion in the 
article of faith? The same acknowledgment that Jesus is 
the Christ." This distinction is one of the paradoxies of 
Unitarianism, you may say, and you may be right! Of 
course, in this he denied the doctrine of the trinity; and 
he clave unto all the other principles of his church. Truth 
was what he most desired, and if he saw it in Unitarianism, 
why, that was his affair, not ours. Surely, though, we can 
all come in on his definition of religion as the love of God 



14 Lore of the Meadowland 

and man, as it is the same definition that the Savior gave 
centuries ago. 

Besides his pastoral duties, Holley was a member of 
the Board of Overseers of Harvard College, of the Boston 
school committee, and of many other literary and benevo- 
lent institutions. To all of them he gave himself unstint- 
ingly. 

And then, at the acme of his power as one of the great 
pulpit orators of the whole country, when his influence for 
good was greatest, like a bolt from the blue he heard the 
call of the wild, the great West began its pounding in his 
pulses, a pounding that never ceased until he went to the 
undiscovered country. 

In 1815 Dr. Holley — for he was now wearing the de- 
gree of Doctor of Laws— was elected to the presidency of 
Transylvania University, but he was then wise enough to 
ignore the siren's voice. The Trustees camped on his trail, 
however, and, in November, 1817, he was again unani- 
mously invited to accept the office. Their perseverance, 
perhaps as much as anything else, kindled his curiosity, 
and so, in March of the following year, he left Boston for 
the capitol of Blue Grass Kentucky. He stopped in 
Washington, where he met many members of Congress, 
and delighted them with his power as a preacher (and, by 
the way, we want to remember that Holley was a man of 
great eloquence, a genuine orator). Journeying through 
Virginia he visited in Richmond, and then tarried awhile 
with Jefferson at charming "Monticello." 

Arrived in Lexington he was greeted with real acclaim 
as the one man who could bring sanity and wisdom, which 
spelled success, into the management of the university. 
Carefully considering the institution, the town, the country, 
Holley sent his acceptance to the Board on April 7; and a 
short time thereafter they met and unanimously elected him 
president of Transylvania. 

While in this city looking over the field. Dr. Holley 
wrote some very delightful letters home, and from one of 
these we desire to read this: 



/ 



Lore of the Meadowland 15 

"Lexington, May 27th, 1818. 

"The town and vicinity are very handsome. The 
streets are broad, straight, paved, clean, and have rows of 
trees on each side. The houses are of brick almost univer- 
sally, many of them in the midst of fields, and have a very 
rural and charming appearance. The taste is for low houses, 
generally two, sometimes even but one story high, like 
English cottages. 

"In the afternoon I walked about town with Mr. Clay, 
and called at a few charming houses. I visited also the 
Athenaeum, an institution not yet furnished with many 
books, but well supplied with newspapers, and the best peri- 
odicals. I find everything of this sort, which is valuable, 
from Boston and the other Atlantic cities. 

"This morning I breakfasted at Mr. Clay's, who lives a 
mile and a half from town. He arrived here only three 
days before me. Ashland is a very pleasant place, hand- 
somer than I anticipated. The grounds are beautiful, the 
lawns and walks extensive, the shrubbery luxuriant, and the 
garden well supplied. The native forest of ash in the rear 
adds a charming effect to the whole. After breakfast Mr. 
Clay rode with me and we went with the trustees, by 
appointment, to the college to visit the professors and stu- 
dents. They were all collected in the largest hall to receive 
us. I made a short address, which was received in a kind 
manner. I was then conducted to the library, the appa- 
ratus, and the recitation rooms. The library is small, and 
the apparatus smaller. There is no regular division of stu- 
dents into classes as in other colleges, and but few laws. 
Everything is to be done and so much the better, as noth- 
ing is to be reformed. Almost the whole is proposed to be 
left to me to arrange. I am now making all necessary 
inquiries, and a meeting of the trustees is to be called next 
week. 

"After this visit, I went with a party of ladies and 
gentlemen nine miles into the country to the seat of Colonel 
[William] Mead [situated just off the Harrodsburg pike], 
where we dined and passed the day. This gentleman, who 



16 Lore of the Meadowland 

is near seventy, is a Virginian of the old school. He has 
been a good deal in England in his youth, and brought 
home with him English notions of a country seat, though 
he is a great republican in politics. He and his wife dress 
in the costume of the olden time. He has the square coat 
and green cuffs, the vest of the court, short breeches, and 
white stockings, at all times. Mrs. Mead has the long 
waist, the white apron, the stays, the ruffles about the 
elbows, and the cap of half a century ago. She is very 
mild and ladylike, and though between sixty and seventy, 
plays upon the piano-forte with the facility and cheerfulness 
of a young lady. Her husband resembles Colonel Pickering 
in the face and the shape of the head. He is entirely a 
man of leisure, never having followed any business, and 
never using his fortune but in adorning his place and enter- 
taining his friends and strangers. No word is ever sent to 
him that company is coming. To do so offends him. 
But a dinner — he dines at the hour of four — is always 
ready for visitors; and servants are always in waiting. 
"Twenty of us went out to-day without warning, and 
were entertained luxuriously on the viands of the country. 
Our drink consisted of beer, toddy and water. Wine, being 
imported and expensive, he never gives; nor does he allow 
cigars to be smoked in his presence. His house consists of 
a cluster of rustic cottages, in front of which spreads a 
beautiful, sloping lawn as smooth as velvet. From this di- 
verge, in various directions, and forming vistas terminated 
by picturesque objects, groves and walks extending over 
some acres. Seats, Chinese temples, verdant banks and al- 
coves are interspersed at convenient distances. The lake, 
over which presides a Grecian temple, that you may im- 
agine to be the residence of the water nymphs, has in it a 
small island, which communicates with the shore by a white 
bridge of one arch. The whole is surrounded by a low rus- 
tic fence of stone, surmounted and almost hidden by honey- 
suckle and roses, now in full flower, and which we gathered 
in abundance to adorn the ladies. Everything is laid out 
for walking and pleasure. His farm he rents, and does 



Lore of the Meadowland 17 

nothing for profit. The whole is in rustic taste. You enter 
from the road, through a gate between rude and massive 
columns, a field without pretension, wind a considerable dis- 
tance through a noble park to an inner gate, the capitals to 
whose pillars are unique, being formed of the roots of trees, 
carved by nature. The rich scene of cultivation, of verdure 
and flower-capped hedges, bursts upon you. There is no 
establishment like this in our country. Instead of a des- 
cription, I might have given you its name, 'Chaumiere du 
Prairies.' 

Wouldn't you like to know what part, if any, this great 
lord of the land played in the little tragedy we are now 
about to stage, which may be entitled "The Power of 
Darkness?" 

Immediately after his election, HoUey informed the 
Hollis Street church of his determination, and he travelled 
home at once to make preparations for the removal of his 
family. He preached a great valedictory sermon to his 
congregation, gathered his family around him, together 
with two graduates of Harvard, and in September he was 
off again for Kentucky. He arrived in Lexington in the late 
autumn, and his presence was welcomed by the illumina- 
tion of the college building, and many other manifestations 
of great joy. 

On December 19, 1818, Dr. HoUey was inaugurated as 
third President of Transylvania University, and he at once 
entered upon the arduous task of converting a grammar 
school into a university. He had everything to plan, but 
he set himself to the work like the wonderful man he was. 
His heart and soul he dedicated on Transylvania's altar. 

In order to get the proper perspective, we must go back 
a bit. Transylvania University is the result of the consolid- 
ation of two preparatory schools: Transylvania Seminary 
of Lexington, founded in 1785, and Kentucky Academy of 
Pisgah, founded in 1795. The union of these two took 
place in 1798, and the next year the Rev. James Moore, the 
famous flute-playing parson, whom Mr. James Lane Allen 
has so exquisitely interwoven into his Kentucky tales and ro- 



18 Lore of the Meadowland 

mances, became the first president of the infant University. 

President Moore, though a most charming gentleman, 
was not a great college president. So, after five years, he 
was succeeded by Dr. James Blythe, a man more interested 
in the chemistry of matter than in the matter of men. 
President Blythe continued as head of the University in 
embryo for fourteen years, during which time he succeeded 
most admirably in keeping it in all sorts of religious tangles 
and warm controversies of various kinds. The curriculum 
was a pathetic joke, and during the first twenty years of its 
existence, that is throughout the reigns of the parson and 
the physician, the little college graduated exactl} twenty- 
two men. 

The Kentucky Presbyterians seemed to think that the 
University belonged to them, and with their abominable 
sectarianism they had torn the institution well-nigh asunder. 
Though the State legislature ousted their board and elected 
a new board composed of several of the distinguished men 
of the Commonwealth, who were anxious to work hand in 
hand with Holley, they yet endeavored to hold on to the 
University : the Lexington Presbyterians were the last to 
welcome the new president, and an Ohio Presbyterian 
weekly was always his harshest critic. Centre College of 
Danville is a most magnificent memorial to the Plolley cru- 
sade. This is history, not prejudice. 

President Holley, having partly finished the work of 
regeneration and overhauling, within three years students 
from all over the Mississippi Valley were crowding the halls 
of the institution; the intellectual life of the whole Western 
people was quickened; European gazetters began to refer to 
Lexington as the seat of Transylvania University, "The 
Athens of the West" — a sobriquet that Horace Holley had 
more to do with winning for this city than even the mighty 
Henry Clay. The future was indeed bright; State and 
Church in the administration of Transylvania seemed to be 
at last separated; the new president was, as we put it to-day, 
"making good." His faculty was composed of famous 
men, at the head of whom stood Constantine Samuel Rafin- 



Lore of the Meadowland 19' 

esque, the scientist and historian, "the most learned man in 
America," to revive the characterization of his contempora- 
ries. 

It was not long, however, and more's the pity, 
before President Holley had raised up a coterie of ene- 
mies determined to destroy him. These enemies, in many 
instances the recipients of hospitality in home and kind- 
nesses from his hand, began to circulate all sorts of 
silly stories about the man, the preacher, the professor, 
and the president. He had a small bust of a Grecian 
goddess in the nude in his home, and because it "was not 
covered to the very ears in an 'inky cloak,' it was 'worse 
poison to men's souls' than a pagan idol, or a 'Druid's 
oak.' " This was one of the proofs that Dr. Holley was no 
Christian 1 Of course, his maligners were ignorant of the 
views of the Unitarian, and so again, of course, Holley was 
an infidel, a most dangerous instructor of youth. The 
government of the University was represented to be lax, 
the students an idle, dissipated set of ne'er-do-wells; the 
University was a "rich man's institution," and, if it were, 
it could not well be otherwise with practically no endow- 
ment or State aid. And so, with damning falsehood, 
denunciation, malice — all "modes of moral assassination" 
known to men, were used to dethrone the character of 
Transylvania's great president. 

yolley's mistake in dealing with his enemies was this: 
like the Standard Oil Company, he maintained a "dignified 
silence," seldom replying to pamphlet, newspaper or mag- 
azine criticisms, or public denunciation, hoping always, and 
always in vain, to "kill false accusations with silence." His 
enemies, like the very dogs of war, were united; he stood 
alone, with only an occasional friend to speak a word for 
him in printer's ink. His wife thought that he should have 
established "an academical paper," which, Wisely con- 
ducted, would most probably have saved him and the Uni- 
versity he loved so well. Dr. Holley did not seem to real 
ize with Joseph Addison that "envy is a tax which a man 
owes to his contemporaries tor the privilege of being dis- 



20 Lore of the Meadowland 

tinguished;" and had he done so, the end of this story- 
would be more remote. 

A tactless political speech, delivered by one of the stu- 
dents, and without the president's knowledge; the denun- 
ciation of an unspeakable Desha, whom the people of this 
State were at one time so unfortunate as to elect Governor 
of Kentucky; and the accumulated criticisms of a half- 
dozen years, convinced HoUey that he was not appreciated 
and he decided to resign. Nine of the best years of his 
life were given to Transylvania, 'his "favorite foster-child." 
In January, 1826, he had asked the Board of Trustees to 
accept his resignation, but they declined to do so. Now, 
however, in the early spring of 1827, he insisted that his 
resignation take immediate effect; and it was done. 

In making his final report to the Trustees, President 
Holley pointed out some interesting facts. During the 
session just closing two hundred and eighty-six students 
were matriculated in the University; attention was called to 
the excellent condition of the grounds and buildings — "in 
the whole establishment there is not a pane of glass out;" — 
the condition of the libraries, apparatus, and cabinet, was 
noted; the course of study was wisely commented upon; 
the number of degrees conferred from the beginning of his 
incumbency (1818) to the present time (1827): six hundred 
and sixty, forty of which were honorary, as against the 
twenty-two that were granted from 1802 to 1818; some of 
the wants of the University: the revival of the law school; 
chairs of French and Spanish; a gymnasium; a provision to 
increase the libraries; an art gallery. 

This resignation and report was dated "Lexington, 
March 24, 1827," and, if all other evidence were lacking, 
this alone would prove Holley' s great worth and success as 
a college president, and, also, that he was thinking fifty 
years or more in advance of his time; but, because he saw 
no harm in a horse race, a toddy, a dance, a hearty laugh, 
an excellent theatrical performance; because, in sooth, he 
was "a good fellow," believing that it was quite possible 
for one to keep Christ in one's heart without wearing crepe 



Lore of the Meadowland 21 

on one's countenance, his power as a pulpit orator, his won- 
derful work forTransylvania, all, all his series of signal suc- 
cesses were forgotten, and he was utterly damned! 

Speaking for the Board of Trustees, old John Bradford, 
Kentucky's pioneer journalist, penned these prophetic sen- 
tences : "Within the walls of Transylvania the fond recol- 
lections of her polite, kind, generous, learned, accomplished 
and much loved President will never perish. The patronage 
of the Commonwealth may be withdrawn, the institution 
may decline, the walls themselves may be crumbled; but so 
long as the name remains there will be associated with it 
the most affectionate remembrances that flow from mutual 
attachments, or have a habitation in the hearts of those who 
are susceptible of the emotions of gratitude. To whatever 
clime your destiny may direct you, you will be pursued by 
the esteem and confidence of those who have been so long 
and so intimately associated with you, and whom we on 
this occasion represent. Farewell." 

A valedictory address must, of course, be delivered to 
his friends, and in this two-hour discourse he touched upon 
everything from his report to the trustees to females, happi- 
ness, immortality, politics, and his return. He seems to 
have held, like many another man, that he "could come 
back." 

Leaving Lexington on March 27, 1827, he was accom- 
Danied by his friends and admirers for several miles out of 
town, the last expression of their love and esteem. 

HoUey had a dream for the sons of the Southern plan- 
ters, and it was this : he desired to take a goodly company 
of them to Europe, living most of the time in Paris, and 
then to educate them with books and travel on the conti- 
nent and in England. He went to New Orleans, where he 
hoped to gather his boys together, and to sail from that 
port. On arriving in New Orleans, however, he found him- 
self welcomed almost as cordially as he had been in Lex- 
ington some ten years before He was offered the Presi- 
dency of the re-organized College of New Orleans, and he 
at once accepted it abandoning his idea for the sons of the 



21 Lore of the Meadowland 

planters at the same time. The Louisianians exhibited 
unlimited faith in the late President of Transylvania, prac- 
tically agreeing to build him a university, and then, if he 
would only accept it, to ultimately present it to him. He 
acceded to their wishes and at once set the wheels of regen- 
eration into motion. 

But the summer wore on apace, and it is a deal warmer 
on Canal street than it is on Market. Holley, exhausted 
with work and overcome with lassitude, finally decided to 
drop the rein for awhile and take a long rest. Passage on 
the packet "Louisiana" was engaged, and the tedious trip 
to New York City was begun. For the first few days all 
went well, and then, "Yellow fever aboard !" was the awful 
cry. Holley was stricken, and on the last day of July, 
1827, he died. His body was consigned to the waters of 
the Gulf of Mexico; but the flight of years seem to serve 
as guardians of a memory perennially green. 

And this, my friends, is the imperfect tale of the years 
of Horace Holley, the famous, the much-maligned Presi- 
dent of old Transylvania. 



KENTUCKY'S DUNBAR 

Josef>h Seamon Cotter 



Let no catholic-minded Kentuckian point the finger of 
scorn at me because I see fit to make an appreciative 
note on Joseph S. Cotter, the Louisville Negro poet. If 
one will read the two lyrics of Cotter's that are here repro- 
duced, one will agree with the present writer that, although 
the poet's color be black, he deserves a deal of recognition 
from those who care for clever verse, if not poetry of the 
highest order. 

The Kentucky Negro, it is interesting at this time to 
note, has his representatives in the major departments of 
literature. In history and biography he is represented by 
John H. Jackson and William J. Simmons ; in fiction by 
W. W. Brown and A. A. Whitman ; and in poetry, both 
lyric and dramatic, by George M. McClellan, Henry A. 
Laine, and Joseph S. Cotter. 

Joseph Seamon Cotter, the ablest Negro writer Ken- 
tucky has produced, was born near Bardstovvn, Ky , in 186L 
He had not a Tuskegee to attend, so he worked at the hard- 
est manual labor in the day and attended a night school in 
Louisville. He has educated himself so successfully that he 
is at the present time Principal of the Eighth Street Colored 
School in Louisville. He has won the respect of many of 
Louisville's foremost citizens by his modest life and poetic 
output. 

Cotter has published three books. His first, entitled 
"Links of Friendship," appeared m 1898; his second, 
called "Caleb, The Degenerate," is a four-act drama; and 



24 Lore of the Meadowland 

his latest book, issued in 1909, "A White Song and a Black 
One." A rather creditable showing for a Kentucky Negro, 
is it not ? 

From "A White Song and a Black One," this little 
lyric is selected for reproduction — the very cleverest thing 
that Cotter has done. 

NEGRO LOVE SONG. 

I lobes your hands, gal ; yes I do. 

(I'se gwine to wed ter-morro'). 
I lobes your earnings thro' an' thro'. 

(I'se gwine ter wed ter-morro'). 
Now, heah de truf. I'se mos' nigh broke; 
I wants ter take you fer my yoke; 

So let's go wed ter-morro'. 

Now, don't look shy, an' don't say no. 

(I'se gwine ter wed ter-morro'). 
I hope you don't expects er sho' 

When we two weds ter-morro'. 
I needs er licens — you knows I do — 
I'll borrow de price ob de same frum you. 

An' den we weds ter-morro'. 

How pay you back ? In de reg'ler way. 

When you becomes my honey 
You'll habe myself fer de princ'pal pay, 

An' my faults ter de interes' money. 
Dat suits you well ? Dis cash is right. 
So we two weds ter-morro' night, 

An' you wuks all de ter-morro' s. 

Shortly before his death the greatest of Negro writers — 
if we except the French Dumas and the Russian Pushkin — 
Paul Lawrence Dunbar, came to Kentucky and gave readings 
from his poems in the principal cities of the State. When 
he returned to his home in Dayton, Ohio, he wrote this 
poem, now published in his 'Lyrics of Lowly Life": 

AFTER A VISIT. 

I be'n down in ole Kentucky 

Fur a week er two, an' say. 
'T wuz ez hard ez 'oreakin' oxen 

Fur to tear myse'f away 



Lore of the Meadowland 25 

Alius argerin' 'bout fren'ship 

An' yer hospitality — 
Y' ain't no right to talk about it 

Tell you be'n down there to see. 

See jest how they give you welcome 

To the best that's in the land, 
Feel the sort o' grip they give you 

When they take you by the hand. 
Hear 'em say, "We're glad to have you, 

Better stay a week er two; " 
An' the way they treat you makes you 

Feel that ev'ry word is true. 

Feed you tell you hear the buttons 

Crackin' on yore Sunday vest ; 
Haul you roun' to see the wonders 

Tell you have to cry for rest. 
Drink yer health an' pet an' praise you 

Tell you git to feel ez great 
Ez the Sheriff o' the county 

Er the Gov'ner o' the State. 

Wife, she sez I must be crazy 

'Cause I go on so, an' Nelse 
He 'lows, "Goodness gracious ! daddy, 

Cain't you talk about nuthin' else?" 
Well, pleg-gone it, I'm jes' tickled, 

Bein' tickled ain't no sin; 
I be'n down in ole Kentucky, 

An' I wan o' go ag'in. 

cotter's response to DUNBAR. 

Here is Cotter's reply to "After a Visit:" 

So, you be'n to ole Kentucky, 

An' you want to go ag'in? 
Well, Kentucky '11 doff her kerchief 

An' politely ask you in. 
An' she'll loosen from her girdle 

What perhaps you didn't see — 
Keys that fit the other cupboards 

Of her hos[)itality. 

Not that she's inclined to liold back 
With the good and give the worst; 
But, you know, in all fair dealin'. 



26 Lore of the Meadowland 

What is first must be the first. 
So, when she takes key the second 

An' gives it a twist er two 
(Maybe I ought not to say it), 

It'll most nigh startle you. 

An' then keys the third and fourth, sir, 

(Not to speak of all the rest) 
Wouldn't stop at crackin' buttons, 

They'd jest smash that Sunday vest. 
And your happiness would find, sir, 

A momentum then and there 
That would carry it a-sweepin' 

Through the stronghold of despair. 

Now, the grippin' o' the liand, sir. 

An' the welcome that you say 
Was so firm an' true an' all that 

Has a kind o' curious way. 
At the first it's sorter slow like. 

Till it forms a league with you. 
Then it makes a kind o' circuit 

That jest thrills you thro' an thro'. 

But it may be I had better 

Not discuss this aftermath 
Fur it might stir up your feelings 

To the righteous point of wrath 
As you brood o'er what you lost, sir, 

By not stayin' with us longer. 
Ah, well, come to see us often, 

Ole Kentucky '11 make you stronger. 

So, you be'n to ole Kentucky, 

An' you want to go ag'in ? 
Well, Kentucky's standin' waitin' 

Jest to take you wholly in. 
An' she'll loosen her vast girdle 

So that you can fully see 
All the roots, fruits, leaves, an' branches 

Of her hospitality. 

Charles J. O'Malley, the Kentucky poet and critic, 
stated the difference between Dunbar and Cotter : ' 'Dunbar, 
perhaps, displays more of the poet's stock-in-trade, blue 
skies, bird-songs, brooks, roses, green grass; Cotter, we 



Lore of the Meadowland 



27 



incline to think, soberer thought, deeper philosophy, and 
certainly a clearer spiritual insight." Alfred Austin, Israel 
Zangwill, and Madison Cawein have also praised Cotter's 
work. 

Daniel W. Davis, the Virginian, William Stanley Braith- 
waite, the New Englander, and Joseph S. Cotter, the Ken- 
tuckian, compose the trio of American Negro poets that is 
entitled to be regarded as Dunbar's only real successor in 
song. 




REV. LONDON FERRILL 

Kentucky s 
Greatest A^egro Preacher 



London Ferrill, the most noted Negro preacher that 
Kentucky has produced, was born in Hanover county, Vir- 
ginia, in 1789. His birthplace was a short distance from 
the old home of Henry Clay. Ferrill was the slave of Mrs. 
Ann Winston, and his mother was the property of Richard 
Ferrill. Mrs. Winston's brother, Richard Ferrill, was born 
in England but early came to America, where he accumu- 
lated a large estate. At his death his property went to 
Mrs. Winston. Her slaves bore her maiden name of Ferrill, 
and she gave the subject of this sketch the Christian name of 
London, in honor of the city of her birth, London, Eng- 
land. 

When London Ferrill was nine years of age his mistress 
died, and he was sold to Colonel Samuel Overton, an old 
Virginia gentleman of the black stock, for six hundred dol- 
lars. Colonel Overton did not buy London's mother, so 
parent and child were separated for many years. 

At the age of eleven years, London and a companion 
came very near being drowned in a little river near Colonel 
Overton's estate. They were rescued, however, and left the 
river with profound thoughts of life, death, eternity, surg- 
ing in their minds. The experience straightened London 
out in his moral life, and gave him his first thoughts of the 
ministry as a life work. This recalls the old story of John 
Wesley, who was saved from the burning rectory at Ep- 
worth, England, a few moments before the roof fell. 



Lore of the Meadowland 29 

Some months after this episode, Ferrill was bound out 
to Edmund Daily to learn the house-joinery business. Dur- 
ing his apprenticeship he was converted to the Christian 
religion, and at the age of twenty he was baptized by the 
Rev. Absalom Waller. From that date began his church 
career, which concluded only with his death. He soon 
began to preach, and was known throughout the Slashes as 
"as great a preacher as Andrew Broaddus" — an able Vir- 
ginia divine. 

Colonel Overton heard of his slave's promising work, 
and decided to give him a systematic education. But his 
decision was never carried out, as he died shortly after hav- 
ing made it. Ferrill, however, added line upon line, pre- 
cept upon precept, and it was not long before his discourses 
were highly intelligent. 

His master had not long been in his grave when Ferrill 
determined to leave Virginia. He first thought of settling 
in New York City or Philadelphia, but finally concluded to 
make Kentucky his future home. He and his wife, who 
had purchased his freedom, bought "a Yankee wagon and 
two horses," and began the long journey over the old Wil- 
derness Road to the baby Blue Grass State. There were 
very few houses along the route of travel, and at night, 
many miles away from any dwelling, he and his faithful 
wife were often serenaded by the howl of wolf and bear. 
They at length arrived in Kentucky and took up their abode 
some four miles from Lexington. After a few months, 
however, they moved into the little city. 

Ferrlll's first preaching in Lexington was done in the 
weaving-room of Thomas Hart, the father-in-law of Henry 
Clay. One of these discourses was heard by a company of 
white persons who admitted his accurate knowledge of the 
Scriptures, but agreed that his grammar was incorrect. They 
arranged a conference for him with the learned James Mc- 
Chord, the Presbyterian pastor of this city, who told him 
many things that were invaluable to him in his future career. 

Ferrill frequently preached in private houses during his 
first years in the "Athens of the West," and his fame soon 



30 Lore of the Meadowland 

reached the ears of the Town Trustees, who engaged him 
to minister to the entire colored population of Lexington. 
The Sabbath following, their action was concurred in by the 
Negroes themselves. Soon after, his congregation went 
further and elected him as their pastor for life, but he 
insisted on a clause in the contract that allowed him to sever 
relations whenever dissatisfaction arose in the church, which 
was agreed to. 

The beginning of his ministry in Lexington was marked 
by incidents that try men's souls. He had enemies galore, 
but he also had many warm, devoted friends, who, with the 
grace of God and his great will power, gave him victory. 
During the first month of his pastorate he had thirty con- 
verts, but he could not baptize them until he had been 
regularly ordained by the Elkhorn Baptist Association, which 
also gave him full power to perform any religious ceremony. 
And on the next Sabbath, he buried his converts with Christ 
in baptism. 

A short time after this, Ferrill's arch enemy, Harry 
Quill, attempted to have him sent back to Virginia under 
the Kentucky law which allowed a free colored person to 
remain in this State but thirty days, unless he or she was a 
Kentuckian-born. But a few of his white friends — and he 
had more than any Negro Kentucky has produced — pre- 
sented a petition to the General Assembly asking that he be 
permitted to remain in Kentucky, and it was granted. 

On June 1, 1833, cholera came to Lexington, and Lon- 
don Ferrill and Bishop Smith, of the Episcopal Church, were 
the only ministers who remained in the city. While William 
("King") Solomon of Kentucky, was the real hero of the 
plague, and throughout it "'he ruled like an unterrified king," 
he was ably seconded by Ferrill, Smith, Benjamin Gratz, 
General Leslie Combs, John Keizer, Jr., and others. 

On June 11, Ferrill's wife died, and the next day saw 
thirteen persons at her bier — the very largest funeral of the 
entire cholera plague. 

After killing some five hundred persons, the awful dis- 
ease subsided in Lexington by the middle of July, and Fer- 



Lore of the Meadowland 31 

rill went into Fayette county to aid the sick and dying and 
to do whatever good he could. 

London Ferrill was the founder and first pastor of the 
First Baptist Church for colored people in Lexington, which 
stands today at the corner of East Short and Deweese 
streets. From 1833 to his death in 1854 "he continued to 
preach, baptizing in the Ohio river at Maysville and Cov- 
ington, in Elkhorn, Town Fork, and in all the ponds 
for miles around Lexington." Throughout his ministry 
he baptized about five thousand persons. 

By his will he left his property to his adopted children. 
This will, which was witnessed by James O. Harrison and 
Francis K. Hunt, two of Lexington's great lawyers, is pre- 
served in the Fayette county clerk's office. Shortly before 
his death, he handed this prayer to his anonymous biog- 
rapher : 

"May the great Father of Heaven and earth 
bless the citizens of Richmond, Virginia, for their 
kindness toward me in my youthful days, but more 
particularly, O Lord, be merciful to the citizens of 
Lexington, Kentucky, and may it please Thee to 
bless, preserve, and keep them from sin. Guide 
them in all their walks; make them peaceable, happy 
and truly religious; and when they come to lie down 
on the bed of death, may Thy good Spirit hover 
around ready to waft their ransomed souls to Thy 
good presence. Lord, grant this for Christ's sake; 
and O God, bless the Church of which I am pastor, 
and govern it with Thy unerring wisdom, and keep it 
a church as long as time shall last. And, O my 
Master! choose, when I am gone, choose some pastor 
for them who may be enabled to labor with more zeal 
than your most humble petitioner has ever done, and 
grant that it may continue to prosper and do good 
among the colored race. And, Merciful Father, 
bless the white people who have always treated me 
as though I were a white man; and bless, I pray 
Thee, all those who, through envy or malice, have 



32 Lore of the Meadowland 

mistreated me, and save them — is my prayer. Bless 
the Church of Christ everywhere — bless Christians in 
every land — bless, O Lord, my two adopted children, 
and keep them in Thy way — bring all sinners, in all 
countries, to feel their need of a Savior, and par- 
don all their sins; and when they come to die, take 
them unto Thyself, and the glory shall be to the 
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, forever and ever. 
Amen." 

London Ferrill died in Lexington, October 12, 1854, 
about five weeks before King Solomon's death. And this fact 
shatters the good old tradition that Ferrill pronounced the 
benediction at Solomon's funeral. General Leslie Combs 
may have delivered a brief eulogy at Solomon's grave, but 
another than Ferrill pronounced the benediction. 

The Lexington Observer and Reporter, one of the best 
of the early Lexington newspapers, published this notice of 
his passing : 

"We are truly pained to be called upon to announce 
the death of London Ferrill, the great colored minister of 
the Gospel, so long a respected and venerable citizen of 
this place. He departed this life on Thursday morning last, 
at his residence near the African Baptist Church, of which 
he had been pastor for over a quarter of a century, beloved 
as he will be lamented by his numerous congregation and 
by our community. He had been in feeble health for some 
time, but continued to perform his pastoral duties till within 
the last few days; and when his lamp of life went out, it 
was with the full confidence that it would be relumed from 
that everlasting luminary whose brightness will never dimin- 
ish." 

The other Lexington paper, the Kentucky Statesman, 
for October 13, 1854, contained this obituary : 

"death of a good man. 
"On yesterday morning, the 12th instant, Rev. London 
Ferrill, a colored man, died in this city, suddenly, from a 
disease of the heart. The deceased, at the time of his 



Lore of the Meadowland 33 

death, was pastor of the First Baptist Church of colored 
persons in this city, and had labored in that capacity with 
great zeal and much apparent profit to the cause of religion 
for many years. He was a meek, earnest, consistent and 
devoted follower of Christ and preacher of His word, and 
had been so for about forty years, being at the time of his 
death in the sixty-fifth year of his age. 

"London Ferrill was born in Virginia, a slave; but 
after his conversion obtained his freedom. He removed 
from Virginia to Lexington over thirty years since; and by 
his labors in the ministry has built up one of the largest 
congregations, we presume, in the United States. His 
communicants numbered, a short time since, eighteen hun- 
dred and twenty; all, or most of whom, joined his church 
under his preaching. The consistency of his conduct, and 
his intelligent comprehension of the Scriptures, attracted 
the attention of the Baptist Church in this city, a few years 
after he came to Kentucky; and he was regularly ordained 
to preach the gospel. During his ministry, from first to 
last, he baptized upward of five thousand persons. 

"But he rests from his labors, and his works do follow 
him. He had justly acquired an immense influence among 
the colored people of this city and surrounding country, 
and he always exercised this influence with prudence and 
for the furtherance of good morals and religion. It will be 
difficult to supply his place. The branch of the church in 
which he ministered has sustained in him a great loss which 
will be severely felt by the colored people. He has gone 
to meet his reward; and the reward is such as awaits the 
good man." 

A funeral notice, neatly printed on note paper with a 
black border (a copy of which was preserved by Martha Lee, 
deceased, for many years a respected colored woman of 
this city, and who was a member of his church) reads : 

"funeral. 

"Yourself and family are requested to attend the 
funeral of Rev. London Ferrill (Late pastor of the First Col- 



34 Lore of the Meadowland 

ored Baptist Church), from his late residence on Short street, 
to the Episcopal burying ground, on Sunday afternoon next, 
at half-past two o'clock. 

"Lexington, October 13, 1854." 

Ferrill's funeral was the largest, save Henry Clay's, in 
the history of Lexington. The Statesman for October 17, 
said : 

"The funeral of Rev. London Ferrill, the colored 
preacher on Sunday last, was attended by an immense con- 
course of colored people. There were about seventy carri- 
ages and other vehicles in the procession, all filled to their 
utmost capacity, besides a very lengthy procession of per- 
sons on foot, four abreast, and some forty or fifty on horse- 
back. It is thought there could not have been less than 
from four to five thousand persons in attendance upon the 
funeral, most of whom followed the remains of the deceased 
to the grave. We have never seen a more orderly or better 
behaved concourse of people on any occasion." 

The little biography of Ferrill, of which mention has 
already been made, was published a short time before the 
death of its subject. But it was reprinted by the Kentucky 
Gazette in 1878 ; and Martha Lee's copy lies before me now. 
The Gazette for March 6, 1878, contained a notice of its 
reprinting, and a short eulogy of Ferrill. The notice com- 
mended the history of his "blameless and useful life" to the 
generations since his death, and concluded with the recital 
of this incident, which will also serve as our conclusion : 

We well remember a conversation in reference to 
Brother Ferrill and the institution of slavery which we had 
on a Long Island Sound steamer with Sir William Howe, 
Governor-General of the British Province of Nova Scotia, in 
1857, and the matter in which he applauded Brother Ferrill's 
marriage ceremony for slaves, uniting them "till death or 
distance did them part." His Excellency said it evinced 
wonderful good sense and a true and scriptural appreciation 
of the marriage relationship. 



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